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Citeh at Meadow
Man City are the team that worry me the most in the WSL. Yes the level has risen to the highest of standards we’ve see yet with teams like Liverpool, Tottenham and Leicester starting the season absolutely flying. Yes Chelsea and Man Utd will be there and the former being the favorites to win a 5th straight title, ugh. Yes, Chelsea worry me, and I have never shied away from stating why I dislike what that club used to be under Abramovich. But City is the team I think can will the title. I don’t say “will” because I actually believe we can win the whole thing.
There’s something to be said about the depth of their bench, and to a degree it might the deepest/best in the league. Casparij, Roebuck, Coombs, Houghton and Deyna… these are players that would be first choice in most teams.
Keating has come out of nowhere and benched established names… Alana Kennedy and Greenwood (here’s to a speedy recovery) are towering, solid, reliable as they get. The midfield trio is technical and has bite, as I wrote on my previous post, and that front 3 is just terrifying.
And again, I don’t care what anybody says: JILL ROORD IS A BALLER.
So, as I look at Sunday’s match I have to start there and by there I mean: how the hell are we going to cope with that front 3? Well, my first answer is what will our front 3 be? Because if they score 4 we have to score 5 or more, so I’m less concerned about our defense as much as I’m excited to see who our front line is.
Bottom line is that Katie has to play, and I say/think that about her on every match day that she’s available for, but I would also like to see Cloe get a run in the wings. I don’t see Frida getting a start so I would love to see Alessia as a 10 and Stina up front. I think she has what it takes to hold the ball off for other’s to make runs and I specially would like to see Beth get between 25 & 35 minutes.
Then there’s the goat in the room. Will we see her get minutes? I truly hope so and this is a match that we need to get something from.
Here’s how I would line them up and as usual, this is NOT how I think Jonas will do it, this is just me having fun:
Whatever happens I think this is a great test and I can’t wait to see our girls beat city 3-0
d ❤
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Jill.
If you were to look at my twitter page, you will see three very recognizable players as my header picture. These 3 dutch players are the main reason why I started following AWFC. Two of them have left and come back to play us with their new teams, and now one of those two will be coming back with yet another team. Jill first came back with Wolfsburg and now she’s back in the WSL with Man City which is a very interesting situation on many levels.
Since I first saw her play til today, and regardless what happens on Sunday I can tell you that I LOVE Jill Roord. I have always have and I always will. She’s one of my favorite players ever, and she’s one of my favorite dutch players too.
Jill seems to somehow divide opinion on social media but to me it’s very, very clear that she is an incredible player. She’s a unique talent and a serial winner. She has won titles with Twente, Arsenal, Wolfsburg and I can see her winning titles with Man City, as I actually believe they are currently the best team in England. She has also won the Euros with The Netherlands, made it to WC Finals, etc. So, regardless of what her detractors might say, she’s in fact very fucking good.
When she left Arsenal people gave her stick which really bothered me because they were doubting her professionalism. When they did that, they also doubted her abilities and implied that she wasn’t good enough for AWFC, which was very strange and basic.
This whole abuse she seems to get is irrational to me and there’s no way to rationalize irrational behavior, there just isn’t. For the sake of this blog post though, what I will mention is how some people take digs at her and I wonder how they will react when they see her live.
Some bloggers and people that work very close to Arsenal have tweeted things about her or made snarky comments and I truly wish I could be a fly on the wall when they interview Jill and act as if nothing has ever happened.
I tweeted this back in July: Jill Roord doesn’t owe anything to any AWFC fans. Get over yourselves. No player ever has to justify x decision just to please you. They are elite and have designed their lives to make whichever decision fits them, while you’re on your couch watching love island.
And I stand by this now in November. But more than fan criticism this was mostly about the overall symbolism of hate towards someone which ultimately is a testament of the ones carrying out the hateful behavior.
The bottom line is that Jill doesn’t deserve any abuse, regardless of what people think she has said or what she has meant or whatever. Whatever misunderstanding, insults and hate are definitely not something she should be hearing or reading. It’s just not cool.
If nothing else, Jill is one of the most misunderstood players I’ve ever seen and that is a compliment in a way. That’s how artists are, true artists. They are misunderstood, they are different, they are hard to read. Blessing and a curse I guess, but I for one think having Jill in any squad makes it stronger and that’s what she has been doing with Man City.
The whole team is stacked. Bunny, Hemp and Kelly up top is insane, and Jill with Angeldal and Hasegawa makes this front line pretty incredible. With that said I truly believe we can get a result, specially being at Meadow park which I think will be great for the girls.
Meado didn’t travel with England did she? We know Viv did and played, but I’m curious to know if either of them feature in such a big match.
d ❤
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Statue For Maria
I have been privileged enough to visit the Emirates/the Armoury a few times and without fail, the first thing I do is go see the statues, specially the DB10 statue. And more than idolizing a male figure, what I like about it is the immortality granted to him by the club. You have to be very, very special to achieve this.
Nobody seems more important to me, than Maria Petri. Yes, there are other figures around the club, like Vic Akers and so on and because there isn’t a shortage of them, I think it would be very special if Maria got a statue at the emirates, and I mean very very very soon.
I also understand, and I might be very wrong, that she is mostly linked with AWFC and she was a staple at Meadow park and that the emirates wasn’t as much of a home for her, so to speak (please let me know if this is totally wrong). But as Viv said, the emirates is the club’s stadium, not the men’s stadium.
Numerous players and coaches will be in line but if the club really wanna set a standard of love, of class, of dignity, the one person that deserves immortality is her.
Wish I would’ve met her!
d ❤
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One more thing…
Regarding the ballon d’or… and I tweeted about this but I wanna make sure that I am on record on any and all platforms to express how absolutely insane it is too me that a body of experts, journalists, etc think that Katie McCabe is ranked all the way down as the 22nd best player in the world.
This is an assault to the sport and to common sense, but more than anything, to my opinion hahaha.
In my mind she’s among the top 5 players in the world, certainly top 10, for club and country. And to not break the top 20 to me this is something that is nothing short of absurd. And by the way, this is coming from someone who still thanks Danielle Van De Donk is top 20 in the world and she gets no love either.
Weird.
Anyway, make sure you watch Shebahn’s post this week about that and more
d ❤
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Ballon D’ewwww
I have such a weird relationship with these types of award shows. I mostly dislike them but truly enjoy seeing so many incredible footballers I admire in one place, the little stories they tell behind teams, etc. Like the production for the most part is terrible and don’t even get me started on the musical guests, but just overall what keeps me usually watching is what I said, lots of footballers I like in one place.
But make no mistake, this award show does actually celebrate women. They are filling a quota or something so that they can prove to the eyes of the average football fan that “they do a lot for women’s football.”
It’s a clear case of “don’t tell me you love me, show me you love me” and its so clear that they are just telling women they love them. If you needed any proof, in case you didn’t know, just know they scheduled the award show during a women’s nation’s league match day, with nominees being all over Europe and couldn’t make the damn event except a handful.
This is so disrespectful and I just imagine how terrible women that work for this damn thing feel. They have to feel ignored and just disrespected all the time through these things, and honestly some days it all feels like its a one step forward, two steps back situation.
This is why we keep supporting women’s football, why we keep blogging and podcasting, why we keep showing up to matches, chanting, supporting the players’s books, appearances, etc.
I didn’t even think I was gonna write today because I’m flying back to LA but I have some time but sadly I cannot watch any of the matches. Fran Kirby just scored for England to go up 2-1 and Lieke Martens just went off injured but not sure how bad it is. Surely I will write about that match either tonight or later tomorrow.
d ❤
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Rubiales Banned
Today is my last vacation day so that means I’ll be back to my normalish posting schedule in a couple of days. In the meantime please check out this article about Rubiales and his ban, which you can read HERE
d ❤
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Oranje Blogje + Nations League
Ok my dutch isn’t great but you know was great? The Oranje Leeuwinnen’s performance against Scotland. To be fair, I should know much more about Scotland because not only do I bloody LOVE the country but it’s an incredible footballing nation and lots of their players play in the WSL… or so I would imagine. Caroline is out injured, and I have no idea where Erin Cuthbert is so maybe help me figure this out?
Anyway, in case you’re new here it’s important for me to tell you that when on international break, this blog usually becomes very, very oranje. I support The Netherlands fully and I’m really excited about today’s match and of course, our Viv coming back, but what I’m mostly excited about is how well DVD played and how far up the pitch she was. When this happens, we win. It’s just facts.
I love that both the Dutch and the English Lionesses seem to have dropped the idea of a back 3 being the way to go and both managers have shuffled things around. Both nations playing extremely well, from the highlights that I was able to watch. And speaking of being able to watch, I haven’t been able to find any highlights of Katie McCabe and Ireland’s win over Albania but once I do, make no mistake that I’ll be writing about it.
Gotta run for now!
d ❤
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ON VACATION
Hi!
Sorry for the lack of activity here but I’ve been on my first vacation in 16 years or so. Still, my commitment to you and to this blog is a constant in my life and I wanted to at least share other people’s content.
If you can, please listen to this amazing podcast by Caroline Barker, Jen Beattie, Rachel Yankey and Izzi Christiansen.
d ❤
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Flying
No, like literally flying so since I cannot post anything (I’m scheduling this post haha) here’s an amazing video by Shebahn, aka the goat, aka the best YouTuber out there. Someone who I had the chance to meet in London last week and couldn’t have been a kinder person.
d ❤
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Viv is football.
Simply put: we are living through really terrible times. Among many things, we are currently dealing with 2 simultaneous wars, horrific things happening through Africa, far right governments winning elections in South America, and an infinity of things added to that.
From a sporting/footballing perspective not everything is great either and an example of this is the whole situation transpiring with the Jamaican national team… a group of historic women who have systematically been taken advantage of for years and just take a second to contemplate the fact that if this is the stuff that we know, imagine the amount of abuse, sheer misogyny, and countless instances of discomfort that they have lived, as women, let alone footballers. It’s a lot.
To remain sane though, we must search for outlets and distractions. I definitely haven’t gone through wars or anything anywhere near as terrible but 4 years ago our house burned and it was a really tough, inconvenient and trying situation and oh yeah COVID hit months later too. During that time, among the things that gave me sustenance was AWFC, and more specifically the dutch contingent of DVD, Viv and Jill. They will always be at the very core of why I love Arsenal Women so much and as a dutch football fanatic, this meant much more than people can imagine.
So this team has been a constant source of inspiration, motivation and much more than what a bad result here or there can do or how it could make me feel. Unless the girls suffer, or when I see them cry or when I see them injured. That fucks me up, a lot. All of these things have a deep impact in my emotional composition. And to that point, not one moment in my life as a fan has had me more worried than when Viv did her ACL. But I was worried for HER, not that I didn’t think she couldn’t recover mentally or physically, I just worried about the amount of stuff she would have to deal with.
I don’t actually know Viv but I’d like to think that I have a good grasp on how elite she is in every way and that includes her vulnerability, how outspoken she is and of course how intelligent she is on and off the pitch, so I never ever want anyone like that, to suffer in any way, even if they’re gonna be better for it. Like I get it, I understand growth and expansion, but I don’t like the suffering or hard times for them right before the actual growth. Does that make sense?
313. That’s the amount of days since Viv last played. Listen… just counting to 313 at a steady pace is exhausting, imagine what it is dealing with recovery every single day, 313 days and counting. I couldn’t play drums for like 6 weeks earlier this year and I almost lost my shit.
I am proud beyond words. There’s not much more I can say aside from that. I’m honored to have been following her career and seen her play at least once in person. Today’s few minutes on the pitch were much more than minutes of course. It was almost a year, a goddamn year.
But let’s make one thing extremely clear.
That pass with her first touch is football reduced to one play. It’s basically like this: you either get what that pass is, what it meant, what it tried to do, how difficult it is, how natural it was for her, how logical it is, or you don’t. It’s that binary… on or off, you get it or you don’t.
If you know me, you know that Bergkamp is my number 1. After he retired the only person I ever compared to him was RVP and of course DVD and Viv are in that conversation, and I will say they overtook Robin to be fair. But anyway, Dennis has a very famous quote that I usually mention whenever I give a masterclass or speak at a school whenever I touch on the topic of intentional behavior. His quote is that: “behind every kick of the ball there must be a thought.”
That pass was it. Every pass has been it, every goal as been it, every touch of the ball has been it, every match watched has been it, every experience has been it.
Viv is IT.
Viv is football.
And…
The only way to be truly football is to transcend it.
To be more than the activity itself.
To BE and to BEHAVE in a way in which that gift is only part of who you are, even a small part at that.
To embody things that nobody could ever even begin to comprehend.
Our lives are better because of Viv, it’s just a fact.
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 